Psalm 21 (20):13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

You will bring them low. You will count them among those whom You will reject in shame and disdain. As You depart, You will set their faces in disarray (Psalm 20:12). In this abandonment, specifically in the cravings for the temporal kingdom, You will leave their boldness exposed for Your suffering.

Despite the way I perceive it, the essence remains firm. Simmachus interprets it to mean that as one directs them backward, indicating that they are behind the Gentiles and trailing after them. You shall render the Jews in disbelief. Those from whom God diverts His gaze are ‘laid backward,’ as they cannot stand before Him; by focusing on what is behind, they cannot attain the state where creation will elevate them to the Creator. Their inability to behold the face arises because they lack a pure heart, which alone enables the vision of His posterior, namely, the created beings before Him. Through contemplation of creation, they might begin to understand Him, and by humbling themselves before their God, they can witness the countenance of the Lord.

The act of fleeing and turning away from the presence of God is particularly characteristic of sinners, as seen with Cain, who departed from God's presence (Gen 4:16). The prophet also states, You will turn their backbone. In contrast, the righteous do not turn away from the Lord; instead, they eagerly approach Him, proclaiming, My eyes are always toward the Lord (Ps 24:15). When the Lord inquired, Whom shall I send? Isaiah willingly offered himself, saying, Here am I (Is 6:8).

"I have put in the foundation." Simmachus articulates it in this manner: "for they shall look back. Those who evaded the defeat of the angel will retreat and will have to reveal their backs, so that upon their return, they can proclaim what has transpired. However, the prophet conveyed this as a foretelling that remains to be realized. 'In Thy abundance Thou wilt prepare their faces.' This statement, as others have interpreted, can be understood in an alternative way: 'In Thy abundance Thou wilt prepare Thy face,' meaning Thou shalt bring judgment upon those who persist and survive.

When an individual abandons their position, they present their back or shoulders to their pursuers, making only their rear visible. Thus the Lord proclaimeth, “thine enemies shalt thou turn from their fear into flight, and they shall not stand before thee.” In Thy abundance, for Thy remnant, Thou shalt prepare Thy countenance. This reflects a type of reversal, as noted by Theodoret, which could be rearranged for clarity as: “upon their remnant Thou wilt prepare Thy countenance.” This suggests that those of Thy adversaries who survive the battle will not evade the same outcome; Thy visitation shall extend to them as well, meaning that they will face divine punishment.

In the earlier passages, the Prophet has prophesied a future of eternal ruin for those who oppose the kingdom of Christ. However, in this text, he speaks of imminent afflictions and plagues, indicating that disaster and wounds are their only prospects. He conveys that God, in the fervor of His anger, will not only allow them to be beaten but will also deliver their very heads to humiliation. When they persist in tormenting His faithful, God will turn them into fleeing adversaries, ensuring they cannot evade their fate. He will confront them in flight with a powerful bow, and they will suffer from His arrows both before and behind.

A foretelling of the suffering inflicted upon the unrighteous Jews by the Romans and others. The overflow of God's anger is directed toward those who refuse to repent and place their faith in Christ, while His compassion shines upon those who turn to the teachings of Christ.

You will cause them to flee; this comes from the Greek word meaning excess or remainder. Here is a rephrasing: they are to be driven away - amidst their excesses; in their abundance - meaning among the remnant of them. Such rearrangements of phrases are frequently found in Scripture, reflecting that the words were spoken with great emotion and spiritual fervor. The term in Greek can refer to your face, or if a certain vowel is set apart—though it does not create a distinct syllable—it can also mean you. The interpretation is that some of them you will cause to flee, and you will conquer those who run away, leaving them all overturned; the remainder you will prepare to confront directly, and you will also annihilate them.